This article is about the Diocese of Quincy of the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. For the Episcopal Church's Diocese of Quincy, see Episcopal Diocese of Quincy.
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The Diocese of Quincy is an Anglican diocese in western Illinois. It was part of the Episcopal Church from its 1877 establishment, but in November 2008, a majority of the diocesan synod voted to leave The Episcopal Church and associate with Anglican Province of the Southern Cone as part of the Anglican realignment movement.[1][2] After the synod, statements from the Episcopal Church and the Southern Cone express conflicting views of what constitutes the diocese.[2]
The cathedral seat has been in St. Paul's in Peoria since 1963,[3] although the diocese retained the name of the location of its original see city, Quincy, where its cathedral was St. John's,[2] in order to lessen confusion with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
The Rt. Rev. Keith L. Ackerman, SSC, was bishop from June 24, 1994 until his resignation on November 1, 2008. He is a member of Forward in Faith, the Society of King Charles the Martyr, the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament, the Guild of All Souls, the Society of Mary, and the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham.[4]
The Rt. Rev. Keith Whitmore, assistant bishop of the Diocese of Atlanta, retired bishop of the Diocese of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, is serving the Diocese of Quincy as consulting Bishop. [5]
Members of the Cathedral parish of St. Paul, the largest parish in the Diocese of Quincy, voted December 4, 2008, 181 to 35, to not be “realigned” or “removed” from the Episcopal Church. [6] At the Cathedral, on December 13, 2008, an Executive Committee was elected to carry out the business of the Committee to Reorganize the Diocese of Quincy, in communion with the Episcopal Church, particularly to organize a Special Synod of the Diocese of Quincy to elect a Standing Committee and other officials of the Diocese.[7] The work of this committee led to the reorganization of the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy as a constituent member of the Episcopal Church.
The Diocese of Quincy currently has between sixteen and twenty seminarians, with most attending Nashotah House in Nashotah, Wisconsin.[citation needed]
Anglican realignment
See also: Anglican realignment
The Diocese of Quincy is traditionally strongly Anglo-Catholic in nature, a heritage that extends back to founding days in the mid-19th century.[citation needed] The diocese does not ordain women to the presbyterate,[2] but does have two female deacons.[8] As of 2006 it was one of only three dioceses in the Episcopal Church that did not ordain women; the other two were the Diocese of San Joaquin, whose convention voted to secede from the Episcopal Church in December 2007, and the Diocese of Fort Worth, whose convention voted in November 2008 to secede.[9] The diocese is also strongly opposed to homosexuality at the leadership level[2] and objects strongly to the ordination of gay clergy.[citation needed]
In 2006, the diocese issued a news release saying that it was "unwilling to accept the leadership" of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, and passed resolutions asking for "alternative pastoral oversight" and withdrawing consent to be included in Province 5 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America.[9]
On November 7, 2008, the 131st Synod of the Diocese of Quincy voted to leave the Episcopal Church and instead join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. As Ackerman's resignation as bishop took effect on November 1, the Rev. Canon Edward den Blaauwen of Moline, Illinois was appointed to preside over the synod.[2]
The major resolutions, which both passed, were to annul the diocese's accession to the constitution and canons of The Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, and to join the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone. After the vote to realign passed, it was announced that Archbishop Gregory Venables of the Southern Cone appointed den Blaauwen as Vicar General in the absence of a sitting bishop.[2]
Also passed by the synod were: a resolution that parishes may withdraw from "the Synod of this Diocese" by a two-thirds vote within the following nine months, and clergy may transfer to other dioceses; a resolution that other parishes outside the geographic boundaries may join the synod of the diocese; funding for the Province of the Southern Cone and the Anglican Communion Network; support for the Common Cause Partnership; and a new diocesan canon to govern marriage, defined as being between "one man and one woman".[2]
The Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, stated that "The Episcopal Diocese of Quincy remains, albeit with fewer members".[2] The legitimacy of other secession actions has been actively challenged by The Episcopal Church, which takes the position that dioceses and parishes may not leave without the Episcopal Church's governing bodies.[10] As a consequence, the long-term effect of these votes is unclear, as with similar cases in the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin and the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh; those two dioceses have each split into two factions, with each faction claiming to be the legitimate succession of the traditional diocese. Neither secession nor annulment of accession is provided for by the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church.[citation needed] The Constitution and Canons of the Province of the Southern Cone allow only dioceses in the six southern nations of South America,[11] but the Province of the Southern Cone has agreed to accept realigning dioceses "on an emergency and pastoral basis".[12] None of these three dioceses are listed as part of the Province of the Southern Cone by the Anglican Communion office.[13]
References
^ Zoll, Rachel (2008-11-08). "3rd Episcopal diocese splits from national church". Associated Press. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jldFTuKLofLmn40HFLfnIMlaVDvgD94B1QN83. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ a b c d e f g h i Bjordal, Joe (2008-11-08). "Presiding Bishop says church laments Quincy departures". Episcopal News Service. http://www.episcopal-life.org/79901_102262_ENG_HTM.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ "Our Parish History". Peoria, Illinois: Cathedral Church of St. Paul. 2008-10-21. http://www.stpaulspeoria.com/yourti103629.html. Retrieved 2008-11-08. [dead link]
^ "Biographical Information For The Right Reverend Keith L. Ackerman, VIII Bishop of the Diocese of Quincy, Illinois". Peoria, Illinois: Diocese of Quincy. 2008-11-06. http://www.dioceseofquincy.org/ackerman_bio.html. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ http://episcopaldioceseofquincy.ning.com/forum/topics/consulting-bishop-for-diocese
^ http://www.stpaulspeoria.com/yourti108104.html
^ http://episcopaldioceseofquincy.ning.com/forum/topics/steering-committee-2
^ "List of Clergy with Photographs available". Peoria, Illinois: Diocese of Quincy. 2008-08-23. http://www.dioceseofquincy.org/clergy_list.html. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ a b Schjonberg, Mary Frances (2006-09-19). "Episcopal Diocese of Quincy seeks alternative oversight". Episcopal News Service. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_77919_ENG_HTM.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
^ "Episcopal Diocese charges clergy with abandonment". Stockton, California: Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin. 2008-10-17. http://www.diosanjoaquin.org/dfc/newsdetail_2/102. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
^ "The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone of America: Constitution and Canons". 2008-02-11. http://www.fwepiscopal.org/downloads/PSCconstitution&canons.pdfhttp://www.fwepiscopal.org/downloads/PSCconstitution&canons.pdf. Retrieved 2008-11-10. "The Anglican Church of the Southern Cone, which shall henceforth be called The Province, is composed of the Anglican Dioceses that exist or which may be formed in the Republics of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay and which voluntary declare themselves as integral Diocesan members of the Province." [dead link] (Quote from Section 2.) Document on Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth (Southern Cone) website.
^ Bjordal, Joe; Mary Frances Schjonberg (2008-08-14). "Quincy: Diocese offers 'resource' for making realignment decisions". Episcopal News Service. http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81803_99994_ENG_HTM.htm. Retrieved 2008-11-10.
^ http://www.anglicancommunion.org/tour/province.cfm?ID=S5
External links
Diocese of Quincy — official website of diocese aligned with the Southern Cone
131st Diocesan Synod Legislation — advance list of the resolutions voted on in the 2008 synod